Keywords: a Vocabulary of Culture and Society

Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Jane I. Smith, and Kathleen M. Moore. Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic IdentityToday New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Paperback $19.95Reviewed by Reem Abu-LughodMuslim Women in America delivers a very interesting account and perspective on various issues pertaining to the challenges and struggles Muslim women face in the US today. This book serves as a valuable resource to educators, students of multiculturalism and women studies, and others who are simply eager to shed light on the myths and realities associated with Muslim women in general.In the first chapter, "Setting the Scene," the authors provide context and background of the post-9/1 1 reaction in the United States toward Muslims in general and Muslim women in particular. They focus on how the attacks were primarily attributed to Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent, and how the US suddenly felt obligated to help liberate women living in Muslim nations. Despite not taking sides on the wisdom of this self-appointed mission, the authors attempt to present valuable arguments with opposing viewpoints and perspectives. For instance, the authors present the faults of the West in perceiving Muslim women as generally oppressed and second class citizens, therefore in need of saving. They particularly point out how the Hijab, a head scarf primarily associated with Muslim women, has been misconceived as a sign of oppression and control by patriarchal Muslim nations. While the authors present the misconceptions associated with the Hijab, they also reflect upon women who share their reasoning for choosing to wear it, both in the Muslim World and in the United States.The authors note that being Muslim in America, albeit difficult, is not a new phenomenon. It began as early as the 1800s with Arab and Muslim immigration, and has continued until this day, interrupted only during periods when general immigration from various regions of the world was restricted. Despite this enduring presence, being Muslim in America, as the authors contend, still comes with challenges and barriers to overcome given the constant anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments and prejudices.The authors continue their analysis of misconceptions associated with Muslims and Muslim women in Chapter II, "Persistent Challenges." In this chapter, the authors particularly focus on the unique challenges Muslims face raising their children in America, a Western culture with values and norms that do not necessarily mesh well with Islamic traditions. The authors also compare and contrast the various differences between the American-born vs. the immigrant Muslim population. They examine the conflicts that result from attempting to negotiate these two differing and perhaps somewhat opposing identities. The authors finally explore the widespread non-Muslim perception of Muslim women living in the US as subjected to domestic abuse and controlled by their male family members. They highlight, in particular, how the media has overwhelmingly contributed to these misconceptions of the West. The authors illustrate this point by identifying various movies, cartoons, and media venues that have portrayed Muslims as fanatics and primitive, denying women their rights as human beings. The authors, interestingly, also show how American Muslim journals have also contributed to perpetuating these misconceptions by often portraying Muslim women as domesticated subjects at home.In Chapter III, "Embracing Islam," the authors explore the appeal of Islam to women from various cultures such as Anglo, Latino, and African American. While the Western media portray an "oppressive" image of Islam to its audiences and perhaps the rest of the world, the authors observe how women, particularly those who have experienced racial, gender, and political discrimination, find Islam to be liberating to the soul. They reflect upon the women's empowering experiences in finding sense in Islam, giving them a serene feeling replete with spiritual and intellectual appeals. …

Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today

The future of Islam

‘A Language for Life’—A Comment on the Bullock Report from the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE)

This thesis study focuses on six young Muslim women, three living in London and three living in New York City. At the time the research was carried out, the participants were between 17 and 19 years old. They came from various ethnic and national backgrounds, though all had at least one parent who was born in a Muslim majority country who had subsequently migrated to either the US or the UK. The thesis explores how these young women experienced schooling in London and New York during the early years of the twenty-first century, in the context of increased tension and anxiety about Muslims living in the West following the 9/11 attacks. It foregrounds the voices of the young women themselves, examining their own accounts of the ways in which they negotiate issues of faith, culture and community. Drawing on postcolonial, critical and feminist approaches, the study explores the complex negotiations around selfhood and subjectivity in which the participants are involved, as young Muslim women growing up in the West. It asks how they are positioned within the education system and how they respond to this positioning, examining the strategies employed by the participants to construct coherent and meaningful identities within a potentially confusing and disturbing context. A number of themes emerged in the study about the participants’ experiences of faith, culture and community within the UK and US education systems. These include the importance of religious and spiritual practices, the desire of participants to combine affiliation with Islam with affiliation to British or American identities, and their struggle to find a sense of belonging within educational contexts that privilege particular sets of experiences and heritages.

K Vincent

Papers

Faith, culture and community: the educational experiences of six young Muslim women from London and New York City